TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast

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TCBCast 282: Our Top 11 Favorite "Lonely/Lonesome/Alone" Elvis Songs Aug 29, 2023

Show notes

Justin and Bec go a little experimental and offbeat this week, deciding to formally and "scientifically" rank 11 of Elvis' home, studio and live performances which have "lonely," "lonesome" and "alone" in the title, as well as loosely exploring how Elvis is so frequently linked to the concept of loneliness - and some of the things Elvis himself had to say about feeling alone.

It's been a bit since we've had a full-on, proper Song of the Week, so the hosts wipe the dust off as Bec brings the deceptively challenging bossa-nova-esque ballad "Almost in Love" from 1968's "Live A Little, Love A Little" while Justin digs into the country roots of "Release Me (And Let Me Love Again," a song Elvis periodically brought in and out of his setlists from 1970 (as featured on the "On STage 1970" album) all the way to his final concert.

If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. If you are unable to support us via Patreon, but want to support us another way, please make sure to leave a positive review or mention our show to another like-minded music/movie history enthusiast.

TCBCast 281: "Lonely Man" (Wild in the Country Review, Part 2) Aug 22, 2023

Show notes

Part 2 of the TCBCast gang's review of Elvis' 1961 movie for 20th Century FOX, "Wild in the Country," goes "wildly" off the rails as the "High Tension" and drama of the weighty back half is undercut by some giggle fits. Justin, Ryan and Bec also discuss where the known deleted songs "Lonely Man" and "Forget Me Never" would have likely slotted into the script, and offer their thoughts on the choice to change the much more downbeat ending after test audiences disapproved of the original ending, which was more faithful to the source material.

Sadly, no Songs of the Week on this episode - Bec & Justin prepared information but we ran a bit long and too late into the evening for us to feature those, so you will hear our Songs of the Week on next week's episode! Next week you'll also hear more in-depth reactions to the "Reinventing Elvis" documentary, the 50th Anniversary "Aloha From Hawaii" set and more!

TCBCast 280: Elvis' Best Movie? The Lost Country (Wild in the Country Review, Part 1) Aug 15, 2023

Show notes

Ryan reports in on his recent trip to Graceland and Memphis, Bec gives her initial impressions of the new documentary "Reinventing Elvis: The '68 Comeback Special" (which releases today, August 15, on Paramount Plus in the US) and the gang begins to dig into the first part of 1961 drama "Wild in the Country," starring Elvis, Tuesday Weld, Hope Lange, Millie Perkins, John Ireland, Gary Lockwood and a highly publicized cameo by Olympic athlete and actor Rafer Johnson.

Wildly underperforming at the box office compared to Paramount's G.I. Blues and Blue Hawaii, Wild in the Country has quietly occupied an unusual spot in Elvis' filmography, but was there ever actually anything wrong with it, or did it just not pander to expectations of who and what Elvis should be in the early 60s? Bec also gave the obscure book that inspired the film, "The Lost Country" by J.R. Salamanca, a read, and together she and Justin (who previously read it in 2021) report in on some of the major differences in plot, character and overall structure.

TCBCast 279: Our Least Favorite Elvis Songs, Volume 3 Aug 08, 2023

Show notes

Bec joins Justin for a very loose, silly, and not-remotely-serious discussion about some of our least favorite Elvis songs and performances. Not "the worst," just some of the ones that don't hit us in quite the same way they might hit everyone else. The subject is so spirited that there are both giggle fits and strong disagreements!

For Song of the Week, Justin revisits one of the songs he featured on his very first "least favorite" list, and makes amends with "Golden Coins" from the "Harum Scarum" soundtrack. Bec, on the other hand, calls attention to an unironically passionate and thrilling 1970 vocal turn from Elvis on the very underrated "The Sound of Your Cry" and its session outtakes (coincidentally, both songs this week are from the SAME songwriters!!)

TCBCast Bonus - Elvis Has Left the Building (2004) Commentary Aug 01, 2023

Show notes

In 2004, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" director Joel Zwick unleashed the comedy film "Elvis Has Left the Building" onto the world. Starring Kim Basinger as a makeup saleswoman whose seemingly supernatural bond to Elvis Presley leads to the accidental string of deaths of Elvis impersonators across the American Southwest.

Co-starring John Corbett, Denise Richards, Annie Potts, Sean Astin and many others, this lightweight, zany Elvis-related film is packed with stars and surprising cameos but seems only infrequently remembered nowadays, even in Elvis fan circles, despite having been given official support of Elvis' estate and record company at the time for its Elvis-laden soundtrack.

While Gurdip went in blind, Justin, who'd seen the movie following its original DVD release, brought all the tidbits and trivia he could find, and together they sat down for a TCBCast Patreon bonus commentary for it back in August of 2021. "Elvis Has Left the Building" is still readily available for rental or purchase in most regions relatively inexpensively on streaming platforms, so cue it up, grab a bowl of popcorn and join the guys for this watch!

If you enjoyed this, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast! Patrons get exclusive access to two and a half years of bonus content just like this, with more commentaries, bonus movie and album reviews and more! If you are unable to support us via Patreon, but want to support us another way, please make sure to leave a positive review or mention our show to another like-minded music/movie history enthusiast.

TCBCast Bonus - "Vinyl: The King and I" Commentary & Bonus Songs of the Month Jul 25, 2023

Show notes

This week, enjoy a sampler from the TCBCast Patreon bonus episode archives as Gurdip and Justin revisit the 7th episode of the 2016 HBO program "Vinyl," a show centered around a struggling fictional record label in the 1970s trying to scoop up real life popular artists. In the episode "The King and I," the series protagonists visit Vegas in an attempt to sign Elvis (played by ETA Shawn Klush) to leave RCA and Colonel Parker, and get him back to his rock roots.

Also featured post-discussion are two "Songs of the Month" from the July 2022 episode of TCBCast Now, both songs from Elvis peers as Gurdip spotlights Englebert Humperdinck's 1968 hit "A Man Without Love" and Justin rides into the town of Agua Fria to celebrate Marty Robbins' "Big Iron."

TCBCast 279 and the first two volumes of the upcoming Elvis and Country Music miniseries are available now in early access on our Patreon. If you enjoy TCBCast, please consider supporting us with a donation at Patreon.com/TCBCast. If you are unable to support us via Patreon, but want to support us another way, please make sure to leave a positive review or mention our show to another like-minded music/movie history enthusiast.

TCBCast 278: How Elvis' Army Service Affected His Career Jul 18, 2023

Show notes

This week, we're talking about the topic voted upon by our Patreon backers, loosely exploring how Elvis's time in the US Army affected his life & career, both in the short term and the long term.

For Song of the Week, from similarly poll-winning tracks, Gurdip & Justin tackle both ends of Elvis' career, with Justin handling the flip side of Elvis' very first demo acetate, "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," and the handful of times Elvis would revisit it throughout his career, while Gurdip reflects on the old country standard "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," which Elvis recorded in 1976, and is sadly the last known song to have been sung by Elvis before his death.

TCBCast 277: Elvis: 2nd to None 20th Anniversary Retrospective (feat. John Michael Heath) Jul 13, 2023

Show notes

Justin is joined by John Michael Heath from EAP Society to mark 2023 as the 20th anniversary of the release of "2nd to None," the follow-up to the smash compilation "30 #1 Hits." Unrestrained by the limitations of only including #1 chart hits, "2nd to None" showed a broader flavor of what Elvis was capable of, but the constraints of the physical medium also placed limits on just how many selections could feature from each era of Elvis' career. However, "2nd to None" also offered something its predecessor couldn't - a brand spanking new Elvis song, "I'm A Roustabout," unearthed from a rare acetate kept in the private collection of songwriter Winfield Scott, and John was among the first group of fans to hear it played publicly at Graceland back in 2003.

The guys also reminisce about the CD's marketing campaign, including numerous official RCA-approved remixes of "Rubberneckin'" (did you know there was more than just Paul Oakenfold's?!) and spend time comparing tracklists with "Hitstory," the final disc in the trilogy which was issued only as part of a box set with the earlier compilations, and touching upon the extremely rare official "third" remix that never got a commercial release, Paul Oakenfold's take on "I Got Stung."

And, of course, Justin brings up John and EAP Society co-host Jamie Kelley's recent A.I. reconstruction of "Poor Man's Gold," and we hear a little bit of behind the scenes of how it came about. Then, in a shocking twist, a revelation is made about one of the music clips featured in TCBCast 276 that no one seems to have noticed or called us out for!

"2nd to None" is still widely available to hear on digital platforms, and in CD & Vinyl formats, as well as in packages with "30 #1 Hits" and "History."

You can hear more from John and Jamie, including "Poor Man's Gold" at YouTube.com/EAPSociety.

TCBCast 276: Elvis (And Elvis A.I.) For Everyone! - A Discussion & Album Review Jul 04, 2023

Show notes

Gurdip and Justin get together this week to dig into the 1965 compilation album "Elvis for Everyone" and ponder what reasons there might have been behind the scenes for this oddball collection of previously unreleased tracks put out to mark the 10th anniversary of Elvis's RCA contract.

Before that, though, the guys briefly discuss the trailers for "Priscilla" and the Paramount+ documentary "Reinventing Elvis" being produced by Steve Binder, and then get into a substantial discussion about the ramifications of breakthrough technology that's made potential AI-assisted songs featuring the voices of artists like Elvis much more viable on a user level - and the reaction EPE gave Rolling Stone when asked their thoughts on AI Elvis songs... and some exclusive news on that front that Justin has been holding onto and unable to discuss until now.

For Song of the Week, Justin waltzes his way to "This is Our Dance," the Les Reed-Geoff Stephens ballad that was a loose re-imagining of their own Engelbert Humperdinck hit, "The Last Waltz" surfacing on the "Love Letters from Elvis" album in 1971. Then, Gurdip steps right up to "The Love Machine" from the 1967 film "Easy Come Easy Go."

Timestamps

0:00 - Start/News

14:45 - A.I. Discussion

42:30 - Main Topic "Elvis for Everyone"

1:19:30 - SotW: This is Our Dance

1:30:50 - SotW: The Love Machine

TCBCast 275: The Influence of Elvis on Raul Malo & The Mavericks (feat. Mark Potter) Jun 27, 2023

Show notes

Justin joined this week by Elvis fan and host of "Stories We Could Tell: A Mavericks FANCast" Mark Potter, and together they dive into the deeply-felt influence of Elvis's music on Raul Malo, lead singer of the band The Mavericks, famously known as the Grammy-award winning country music band that had their most mainstream success in the 1990s.

Gurdip and Justin have discussed and praised Raul and The Mavericks a number of times on TCBCast, particularly on our "Elvis covers" episodes. From Raul's unique insights on "It's Now or Never" and his longstanding love of "Aloha from Hawaii" to The Mavericks' opportunity to collaborate with Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana on the "All the King's Men" album and beyond, Mark and Justin hit on as much as we can!

For Song of the Week, Mark selects "Alla En El Rancho Grande," which, although Elvis joked around with in the rehearsals for "That's The Way It Is," quickly reveals itself to have a vast amount of history and alternate versions dating all the way back to Mexican cinema of the 1930s. Then, Justin opts for Elvis's 1961 take on "Judy," originally from 1960 by writer Teddy Redell.

If you'd like to hear more of Mark's podcast episodes, which features fan interviews, former band members and deep-dives into The Mavericks' discography and other influences, you can check out "Stories We Could Tell" at https://mavericksfancast.podbean.com/ and on any other major podcast platforms, and follow along at facebook.com/StoriesWeCouldTell

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